A 19-year-old third baseman is already one of the best hitters in the California League, and could be the next third baseman in Los Angeles.
Central Bucks East's Chase Harlan throws to first base against Garnet Valley during their PIAA Class 6A District One playoff second-round game in Doylestown on Wednesday, May 22, 2024.
| Daniella Heminghaus | Bucks County Courier Times / USA TODAY NETWORK For all its prowess in player development, the Los Angeles Dodgers' farm system has not yielded many useful major league third basemen in the last decade. Fortunately, they haven't needed any. Justin Turner took over for a fading Juan Uribe. Max Muncy took over for a fading Turner.
Muncy, who leads the team in home runs , recently extended his contract through 2027 with a team option for 2028. Against this backdrop, it's easy to forget the Dodgers have seen only two third basemen rank among MLB Pipeline's Top 10 prospects in their system since Uribe's first year in Los Angeles. Neither of the two is still in the organization. Former first-round draft pick Kody Hoese topped out at Triple-A, and nowin Florida.
Miguel Vargas was struggling in a utility role through parts of three seasons with the Dodgers when he was Enter Chase Harlan. The Dodgers' third-round pick out of a Pennsylvania high school in 2024 is tearing up the California League a month shy of his 20th birthday.
Harlan is "tapping into more and more now that he's chasing fewer pitches and making better in-zone contact,"Harlan ranks among the California League leaders in batting average , on-base percentage , and OPS . Every batter ahead of him in each category is older.
"Harlan was a toolsy, young-for-the-class prep prospect in the 2024 draft and has posted big exit velos and homer totals since turning pro," McDaniel wrote. "He's now hitting for average along with that same power and exit velos to show that isn't an aberration .
" Harlan's major league ETA might line up perfectly with the end of the 35-year-old Muncy's run at third base in Los Angeles. He might also find himself in a trade package ahead of the Aug. 3 deadline. Either way, he's suddenly become a name to remember. J.P.
Hoornstra is an On SI Contributor. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers in California, J.P. covered MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Los Angeles Angels from 2012-23 for the Southern California News Group. His first book, The 50 Greatest Dodgers Games of All-Time, published in 2015. In 2016, he won an Associated Press Sports Editors award for breaking news coverage.
He once recorded a keyboard solo on the same album as two of the original Doors.
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